Sunday the 23rd of September I flew into Bangkok, Thailand with mixed expectations. Had my research topic been misguided, and would I face a harsher reality of what the country is really like? I was worried that what I had read in the past may have been viewed with a more western perspective and that Thailand was far less developed than I had originally thought. I couldn’t have been more wrong. As I landed at Suvarnabhumi Airport I was immediately shocked by the scale and technological attributes of the building. Then to leave the airport and travel to the hotel there was billboard upon billboard advertising some sort of ICT device or network. This gave me great confidence in my research topic and food for thought for further questions to ask on the “official visits”.
On the First day, we visited the National Institute for Development Administration, where ASEAN was the main focus but provided some solid feedback for the state of the governments in South-East Asia and reasoning behind why things move so slowly. The next stop was the ILO where I learn about the International Labour Organisations goals for better work and asked questions about unemployment caused by automation and factory conditions. This was helpful as they shed light on the new method to calculate unemployment and how it affects the validity of past data. The place I gained most information relating to my research was the World Bank in Bangkok where the topic of ICT investment was covered quite a bit with the lead economist currently looking into a similar research topic to mine. He also led me in the direction of the world development report where lots of data relating to my topic sits. Overall these visits were extremely helpful in establishing a clear research topic and gathering data.
One more main challenge remains in my research as I am struggling to find precise data on ICT capital accumulation in Thailand, as it’s national accounts data does not have a separate category for ICT or technology.
Over the next few days in Vientiane, I am hoping to gather information on the state of telecommunications in Laos and whether I should also use it in my research as a comparative aspect to my report.
Economic Adaptation 
Hey Buddy Tom!
It is great to hear how much the trip and official visits supported your research topic.
It is a shame you are still finding the challenge to collect the precise data on ICT capital accumulation in Thailand. I am sure you already probably would have asked… but would you be able collect data from the lead economist in relation to your topic? Hopefully he may have access to other information you are missing.
I hope in the coming few weeks your research is moving along nicely.
See you soon for work in progress presentations!
– Buddy Amy
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